"So, shall we go to Wenzhou tonight to find a hotel for one night, and then go back to Beijing early tomorrow morning?" I asked as I drove slowly. I was already a little frustrated, this commission, not only did not solve the case, but let the client die in a suspicious fire, what a failure.
"Not simple, not simple. Uncle Jiange didn't seem to listen to what I was saying, but was saying to himself "not simple", looking thoughtful. His eyes were fixed on a newspaper in his hand, which he had just bought at a roadside newsstand, with a news report about the fire and a posthumous photo of the client.
"Hey~~ Are you listening to me? Why are we going now? "I urged him a little impatiently, I wanted to end this trip early, go home in Beijing, have a good rest, and forget about these unpleasant things.
"Huh? Oh. He seemed to have just woken up by my urging, "Well, of course, it's a trip to a funeral home." "
"What? No, the clients are dead, what are we going to do? Can we continue to entrust us? I asked in amazement, I didn't understand why he would go to see someone who had died, and someone we didn't know at all.
"Yes, the clients are dead, naturally no one will send us a task package or something, let alone know what the 'threat' he said in the email is." However, don't you think it's a coincidence that an accidental fire occurred at this time? Uncle Jiange put down the newspaper and looked at me, his eyes shining with a hint of sharpness and doubt.
"It's really a coincidence, but it's not completely impossible from a probability point of view." Didn't the fire brigade's professional investigation say it was an accident? Perhaps, this is fate! After all, tomorrow or the unexpected you don't know which one comes first. "I said helplessly that I didn't want to delve into this matter, I thought it was just an unfortunate coincidence, there was nothing suspicious.
"Let's go check it out, at least to his family, after all, they are coming, and his wife probably knows that he invited us." Uncle Jiange pinched the bridge of his nose, his face a trace of exhaustion and unwillingness. "Also, I always feel that something is wrong in this matter, and I want to see the scene with my own eyes and maybe find something."
"Found what?" I asked curiously, not knowing what clues he was trying to find from a scene that had been burned beyond recognition.
"I don't know, maybe nothing, maybe something important." Uncle Jiange shook his head, and there was a hint of persistence and persistence in his tone. "In short, I don't want to give up this opportunity, because the email and this accident are too coincidental, don't you think it may be a little tricky here?" I want to see for myself, would you like to come with me? "
"Well, as stupid as I am, I really don't see anything wrong. But since you said so, I'll go with you. "I promised him, although I thought it was a futile thing, but I didn't want him to go alone, after all, he was my teacher and my friend, and I didn't want to disappoint him.
"Thank you, you are a good student and a good friend." Uncle Jiange said gratefully, his eyes shining with a glitte, as if he was looking forward to this visit.
"Okay, let's go over there." I checked the location of the funeral home on my phone and followed the navigation towards the funeral home. I don't know if we'll find anything there, but I hope this trip has a happy ending.
"I know you." At the funeral home, Li Shilan's wife received us, "My husband told me about you a few days ago, and he told me that you would come to see us in these two days. By the way, my name is Liu Xiaojing, we both have the same surname, just call me Xiaojing. "
This is a beautiful and moving woman, looking young, but 30 years old, wearing a well-fitting black suit, looking smart and elegant, but her face is full of grief. Her eyes were red and swollen, there were still crystal tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, her lips were pursed, as if she was enduring unspeakable pain, and her forehead was wrinkled, as if thinking about some intractable problem. Her body trembled slightly, and her hand clasped a photograph of her and her husband, Li Shilan, who died in the kitchen that day.
"It's really unfortunate that something like this could happen. People cannot be resurrected from death, and please mourn and change. Uncle Jiange expressed his sincere condolences to Mrs. Li.
"I'm so sorry to let you come all the way here," she looked apologetic, "but I don't think my husband may be able to fulfill the commission he wants to give you." "
"It's okay. This is something that no one could have predicted in advance. "
"Anyway, it's late now, please stay at my house for at least a few nights tonight, such a big thing happened, there was a lot of bad hospitality, and I ask for your forgiveness." You may have to take care of dinner yourself tonight, I'm sorry, my driver and his family will be back tomorrow, and it will be much better by then. "
"Where, we took the liberty to disturb you and cause you trouble. That being said, Uncle Jiange didn't seem to care that he had disturbed the other party at all, "However, may I take the liberty to ask, what happened yesterday?" "
Hearing Liu Jiange's inquiry, Liu Xiaojing was stunned for a moment, looked up at Liu Jiange, was silent for a short while, and then returned to normal.
"Yesterday at noon my husband had a dinner with some of his business partners, and when he came back drunk, he slept in the bedroom at home in the afternoon and never got up. I went out to meet a good friend who often went shopping together, went to a fancy café together, had afternoon tea, chatted, and walked around the mall. Mengling, our nanny, came back from grocery shopping, and found smoke coming out of the kitchen, so she quickly called the police, but... But..." Her voice choked up, too painful to speak, and her tears rolled down her eyes like pearls with broken threads.
"Sorry sorry, I shouldn't have brought back your memories, don't be too sad, the matter is over, you need to take care of your body." "
Liu Xiao stopped her tears, stabilized her emotions for a while, and said: "I'll let Mengling go back and clean up the two guest rooms later, please forgive me for not being well entertained." "
"I'm sorry to trouble you. If you are busy first, we will not bother first. "
"So, where are we going next, have dinner first and then go to Li Shilan's house?" "Coming out of the funeral home, I felt a little hungry.
However, Uncle Jiange didn't seem to feel hungry, "Let's go to the fire brigade." "
"What's wrong? Do you think there's something wrong with that? "
"I don't know yet. But since I'm here, I think it's always good to know more. "
In the fire brigade, we met Deputy Captain Zhang, who led the police at that time.
He was a medium-sized, stocky man with a scar on his face and looked dignified. Originally, he didn't like to deal with us, probably thinking that it was a very troublesome thing for two ordinary people to come to him and ask about the fire yesterday afternoon.
His tone was cold and simply told us that the fire was caused by a gas leak without any suspicious signs and that the case was closed. But after Liu Jiange showed his business card, Vice Captain Zhang's attitude was obviously different. His eyes lit up, and he immediately became enthusiastic, quickly held Liu Jiange's hand, and said, "You are that famous criminal investigation expert Liu Jiange? I heard about you a long time ago! I admire your achievements in those big cases! "
"Wherever, I am a little famous in the system, and no one outside has heard of me. Uncle Jiange replied very modestly, but I could see a smug smile on his face. After all, his reputation is still very loud in the police circles, and he is also very happy to be recognized by his peers.
After the pleasantries, they quickly got down to business. Uncle Jiange asked Vice Captain Zhang in detail about the fire, including the cause of the fire, the development of the fire, the situation at the scene, the identity of the deceased, and their investigation process and conclusions. Vice Captain Zhang replied one by one, without any concealment or perfunctory.
"Yesterday afternoon it was me and my partner who went out to the police, and it was about 4:40 Minutes or so. We received an urgent call that the kitchen of the Li family manor was on fire, so we drove the fire truck quickly, the fire should have burned for about an hour, when we arrived, the entire kitchen interior was burned beyond recognition, only a pile of black ruins remained, but there was no loss outside the kitchen, and the restaurant next to it only burned a small part, probably because the kitchen door was closed tightly and the fire did not spread. We quickly put out the fire and went inside the kitchen to see if there were any casualties.
"But we were still late and couldn't get the man out, and by that time he was dead.
"Regarding the cause of death, our judgment is that the gas explosion caused him to be injured and unconscious, and the fire that followed burned him to death, and that was roughly it. "
"So according to your judgment, is this an accident?" Liu Jiange asked.
"Yes, that's unmistakable, it's obviously an accident. They installed two gas stoves in their home, one of which was installed privately, according to their nanny, a second-hand item bought online about a month ago, and then modified the pipe themselves and added a tee so that they could use two gas stoves at the same time. However, the interface hose of the second-hand goods is seriously aging, cracks and breakage, and the probability is that strict leakage inspection is not carried out, so it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs. When we inspected the site, we found traces of the hose and the smell of gas, which was the cause of the fire. "
"Regarding this accident, then the case is closed, right? "
"Of course, in the eyes of our fire brigade, the result of the cause investigation is undoubtedly an accident caused by a lack of safety awareness. But frankly, tragedy shouldn't have happened like this, and the family moved in less than a year, just before moving in The house has been renovated and the furniture has been replaced with new ones, if not for the installation of a gas stove by yourself It's still an old one, in fact, nothing will happen. "
"Okay, I see. Thank you for your time. Uncle Jiange stood up and shook hands with Vice Captain Zhang. I got up and walked out together.
After dinner outside, we drove back to the Li family manor, but when we were about to arrive, we were stopped at the intersection, and it was the little beauty who saw us at the door of the house in the afternoon.
She wore a white dress with her hair tied into a ponytail, looking innocent and cute. Seeing her waving at our car on the side of the road, I pulled over to the side of the road and opened the window.
"I'm sorry, I heard that Uncle Li Shilan hired a very famous detective before his death," she asked eagerly, with a panicked look in her eyes, "Is that you?" "
I didn't know how to answer, whether I should tell the truth, so I had to turn my head to look at Uncle Jiange.
He sat in the co-pilot's seat with a calm expression, as if nothing would surprise him. He nodded slightly, and then said, "Yes, I'm afraid it's us. Uncle Jiange replied, "But how do you know?" Are you a relative of Li Shilan? "
"No, no, I'm his neighbor and live in that house opposite. She blushed and explained, "It was Sister Liu Xiaojing who told my mother, she is the wife of Uncle Li Shilan, and she said that he hired a very powerful detective before his death, it was you." "
Indeed, you can't expect this kind of thing to be kept secret, sooner or later it will be known to everyone. I thought of Liu Xiaojing, she was a beautiful woman, but there was a coldness and contempt in her eyes that made me feel uncomfortable. She is Li Shilan's only relative. I don't know why she told this girl about us, if it was for any purpose.
"Well, it's impossible to keep this kind of thing secret. That's okay, so what do you want to know? Uncle Jiange asked, his tone very kind, as if an elder was concerned about a junior.
"It really was just an accident, right? The girl hesitated for a while, as if she wanted to say it, but she didn't dare.
She hesitated for a while, and finally said: "I heard that Uncle Li Shilan was burned to death, is it true?" "
"Yes, it's true. Uncle Jiange said, "The people in the fire brigade told us this, they said that because of the gas leak, which caused the fire, Li Shilan was burned to death in the kitchen."
"So, did he leave any last words or clues?" The girl seemed shocked by the news, her voice trembling a little, her eyes shining with tears. My mind suddenly flashed the comment Uncle Jiange had made about her a few hours ago: "A girl with anxious eyes." "
"No, there are no last words or clues at the moment. Uncle Jiange said, "Girl, unless ~~ is there something we don't know?"
"No, no, I don't know~~" The girl seemed to be frightened by this question and stammered. Her face turned pale, her fingers gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, and her body trembled slightly. I sensed an ominous atmosphere, and I felt as if she was hiding something, or afraid of something.
I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but Uncle Jiange interrupted me and he said to her: "Don't worry, at least for now, we all believe that this is just an accident. Uncle Ge comforted her gently, "Besides, why do you care so much about this? Do you have any special relationship with Uncle Li Shilan? "
"No, No, Uncle Li Shilan has always been very nice to our neighbors," she finally replied after a moment of silence, "I naturally care about his business."
"Oh oh, got it. Uncle Jiange said, "No problem, don't worry, I will tell you in time if there is any news." "
"Uh-huh, okay, thank you! The girl finally relaxed, smiled happily, and then shyly thanked Uncle Jiange. Her smile is very bright and innocent, which makes me think that she is a cute girl, but I also feel that there is a sadness and helplessness in her smile, which makes me feel that she is a poor girl.
"Now I'm going back, my mom will look for me." She turned around and ran home. Her figure gradually disappeared in the night, and I looked at her back, and I had an indescribable feeling in my heart. I don't know exactly what secrets she has between her and Uncle Li Shilan, or whether she is really just an innocent neighbor, but I think she may be the key to this case, or the victim of this case.
Back at the Li family estate, we checked the scene of the fire.
This is not a small kitchen, just on the ground floor, close to the garage location, about 20 square meters.
As soon as you enter the kitchen door, what you see is a mess, which makes people tremble. To the left of the door is a huge refrigerator with only the remains of the remains, with double doors, which seem to have been more than 600 liters, which should have been white, but now it is black, and there are some burnt tiles and photos on the door. Then next to it should be the cupboard that stretched all the way to the window, but now it has burned to the point of residue, and the contents of the cabinet have turned into a mass of black objects, I don't know what it is. On this side of the cabinet near the refrigerator is probably a built-in household double-stove gas stove, and only the skeleton remains, the range hood originally hung above the gas stove fell down, piled up on the ground indiscriminately, and then interestingly, there is also the remains of a gas stove next to it, probably the one that Li Shilan bought from the thrift market a month ago, the hose of this gas stove has been broken, and the smell of gas is still very strong. On the right side of the entrance is the remains of other kitchen appliances, including electric ovens, dishwashers, disinfection cabinets, etc., all of which have been burned beyond recognition, and you can only guess what they are from the shape. The windows are relatively intact, probably because it is the kitchen sink, the sink, garbage disposal, sewer pipes, etc. have not been burned, there are some unwashed dishes and chopsticks in the sink, and there are some food scraps in the garbage disposal. The ceiling of the kitchen had been burned down, and there were all vertical and eight lying on the ground, in addition to the floor was a layer of ash, and some unknown things.
We didn't go in and just looked at the kitchen door.
"The fire brigade came in time," I said, "and if it had been late, maybe the whole house would have been gone." "
"Indeed. However, the three-story reinforced concrete structure is not so easy to burn, they can be strong. "Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, I told me while looking inside the kitchen.
Outside the kitchen, there was a larger dining room, the side of the dining room near the kitchen was also burned out, but about because the fire brigade came in time, the fire did not spread further, so only half of the dining room was burned, the walls and ceiling were blackened, and there were some burnt curtains and carpets. In the middle of the dining room is a long white table in the style of modern minimalism, surrounded by a circle of chairs, the backrest and cushions of the chairs are black, which contrasts with the dining table. Next to the wall are two sideboards with some cutlery and spices, some decorations on the cabinets, a crystal vase with a bouquet of dried flowers, and a silver fruit bowl with some plastic fruits inside. In the corner stood a coat rack with some coats and hats hanging from it, as well as an umbrella.